In the process of boning a carcass, the external fat layer is removed. During this process, a significant amount of lean can be cut from the carcass and discarded with the fat. This process leads to a significant loss of lean. To recover the lean, the discarded fat was heated and processed in a centrifuge to separate the fat from the lean. The lean was then frozen and chipped into small flakes. The finished product, known as Lean Finely Textured Beef (hereinafter “LFTB”) could later be added to ground beef, for example.